1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of data communications, particularly in the area of session initiation protocol-based messaging including Instant Messaging and pertains to methods and apparatus for creating and managing a virtual contact center.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
Instant Messaging (IM) is a communication medium based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). SIP is a well-known communication protocol created by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). SIP is used over data networks to initiate and define multi party multimedia telephony and IP sessions including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video streamed over the network using one of several known transport protocols such as Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP). In terms of the layers of the suite of Internet protocols, SIP sits in the application layer. In typical use, SIP is somewhat limited in scope to a dedicated purpose of building or initiating multimedia sessions, defining them using session description language (SDP), and then for tearing down those sessions when completed. It has occurred to the inventors that while SIP is not used to transmit documents, it is capable of handling multipart message bodies using MIME or S/MIME headers. Much information about SIP in particular is available at the following Web resource http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt.
The popularity of communicating by way of instant text messaging (IM) has skyrocketed over recent years. Companies are employing IM technology and associated communications protocols in order to improve the quality of the customer experience and the quality of internal and external communications between the companies and their personnel and between companies and their external associates.
IM is a well known communications utility that allows persons to connect dynamically with each other and with groups during social interaction sessions where the contacted parties are selected from a personal or online list or directory. Using a presence protocol, IM interfaces may detect when a person listed in a group of people or whose credentials are presented in a profile of some kind is online and able to accept an IM.
The basic IM interface typically only supports session activity of those parties whom have published their information and personal preferences and have allowed certain other parties access to that information. Permission to engage in a session is typically granted by the receiver of a request for a session. It has occurred to the inventor that the use of IM capability could be a sound foundation for a high-level communications center environment complete with on-demand access and routed interaction requests.
What are clearly needed are methods and apparatus to integrate IM capabilities into call center communications environments including automated telephony applications and to enable dynamic creation of communities or groups of agents or experts to service community members.